The Staging Environment
for Your Soft Skills.
You have unit tests for your code. Why don't you have tests for your difficult conversations?
A text-based flight simulator for Engineering Managers and Tech Leads. Practice the "hard stuff" before you do it in production.
No subscription. One-time commit.
A Flight Simulator for Leadership
Most engineering leaders don't fail because of technical decisions. They fail because of people decisions.
The Backchanneling VP: A VP is going around you to assign work directly to your team. How do you handle it without burning bridges?
The "Senior Engineer" Paradox
You spent years mastering deterministic systems (Code, Architecture, CI/CD). Then you got promoted. Now you deal with non-deterministic systems (Humans, Egos, Politics).
The Bug
Your compiler gives you error messages. Your team just gives you silence.
The Result
You delay difficult feedback, dread 1:1s, and let technical debt pile up because you can't say "No" to the PM.
Debug Your Leadership Style
This isn't a video course you watch at 2x speed. It's a Simulator.
You enter a scenario. A Simulated Counterpart (a stubborn PM, a burned-out Senior Dev, or a panicked VP) pushes back. You have to navigate the conversation.
Safe Sandbox
Fail here so you don't fail in Production.
Real Scenarios
Modeled after actual incidents in high-growth startups.
Instant Feedback
Get a "Code Review" on your empathy and clarity after every session.
One Simulator. Three Ways to Win.
For New Tech Leads
Build your management instincts before you need them.
For EM Interviews
Ace the "Tell me about a time..." questions with real examples.
For Senior EMs
Use it to train your first-time tech leads.
Unit Tested by Engineering Leaders
These scenarios aren't creative writing exercises.
Every simulation has been 'code reviewed' and stress-tested by CTOs and Senior Engineering Managers.
We didn't ask them, 'Is this educational?' We asked them, 'Does this feel like your worst Tuesday morning?'
If it wasn't painful enough to be real, we deleted it.
Why use a Simulator?
Books are passive
Reading "Radical Candor" is easy. Doing it is hard.
Roleplay is awkward
Traditional roleplay workshops are awkward. This is private.
Experience is expensive
Screwing up a real 1:1 costs you trust. Screwing up here costs you nothing.
The "Tech Lead" Scenario Pack
Practice the conversations that define your leadership.
The Production Outage
The Situation: The site is down. The CEO is screaming for an ETA. The team is panicking.
Your Goal: Manage the incident, protect the team, and communicate clearly upwards.
The Underperformer
The Situation: A senior engineer's output has dropped. They are defensive.
Your Goal: Have the "Performance Talk" without destroying their morale or your relationship.
The "Feature Creep" PM
The Situation: Product wants to squeeze "one small change" into the release 2 days before freeze.
Your Goal: Say "No" firmly without being labeled "difficult."
Cheaper than one "Apology Coffee"
You know, the one you buy after you screw up a difficult conversation.
Not ready to commit? Try the free scenario first.
Start Free Simulation →
